- Marc Marquez clocks lap record to go fastest in Thai MotoGP practice
- Smog in Pakistan megacity ends outdoor play for schoolkids
- 'End of an era' for Hezbollah after Israel's killed its leader
- Lebanon minister says Israel strike puts second Syria crossing out of service
- Ahmed triple strike leaves Pakistan 187-7 in third Test
- Tunisian freediver Walid Boudhiaf eyes records and developing the sport
- Schauffele makes up ground in Japan after opening-day nightmare
- Lebanon says Israeli strike kills 3 journalists
- Beyonce v Joe Rogan: stars power up US election
- Locals fume as Lisbon's historic trams become tourist 'toy'
- India 107-7 after Santner takes four wickets for New Zealand
- Myanmar rebels take the road to Mandalay
- Taiwan president says 'won't yield an inch' in defence of island's territory
- Thunder roll past Jokic's Nuggets to open NBA campaign
- Bezzecchi quickest in opening practice for Thai MotoGP
- Stafford throws four touchdowns as Rams beat Vikings
- More than 150 Rohingya refugees rescued off Indonesia: UN
- Asia markets split after Tesla boosts Wall Street
- Stung in Europe, Bayern and Dortmund face tricky away trips
- Confident Barca visit unpredictable Liga champions Madrid
- Arsenal face must-win match against Premier League pacesetters Liverpool
- Parra's Stade Francais 'lacking confidence' before hosting Clermont
- 'Our pride': Lone child brings hope to Japan's puppet village
- Thompson nets first USA goal in 3-1 friendly win over Iceland
- Biden to issue historic apology for abuse of Native American children
- Baseball blockbuster as Yankees, Dodgers clash in World Series
- Loud US election barges into quiet Amish country
- It's the economy, say voters in swing state Nevada
- Trump vs Harris: Competing visions for a warming world
- Colombia's Awa people resist violence, maintain 'spiritual bond' with nature
- Split Gen Z: Gender divide grows in US youth vote
- Harris joined by Obama, Springsteen at star-studded rally
- Judge relishing World Series duel with 'best player' Ohtani
- Calls to charge tourists to enter Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral
- 'Sho-time' arrives as relaxed Ohtani prepares for World Series bow
- Thai massacre families left without justice as charge deadline expires
- Cricketer David Warner's lifetime leadership ban lifted
- Springsteen, at Harris rally, warns of 'American tyrant' Trump
- Menendez brothers could be freed after prosecutor urges resentencing
- Tottenham teen Moore compared to Neymar after Europa League starring role
- 'Freedom': Russian anti-war sisters find new home in exile
- Ten Hag bemoans United's lack of 'killing' instinct, Spurs march on
- Commonwealth presses UK to atone for brutal past
- Pacers' Wiseman suffered torn Achilles tendon in season opener
- Google urged to step up efforts to demonetize climate falsehoods
- Norris says 'I'll do what I think is right' in Verstappen battle
- USA Volleyball names Kiraly men's coach through '28 Olympics
- LA prosecutor to ask for resentencing of Menendez brothers
- Spurs march on in Europa League as Mourinho sees red against Man Utd
- US court blocks Coach owner's $8.5 bn buyout of Versace parent
Tunisian freediver Walid Boudhiaf eyes records and developing the sport
Tunisian freediver Walid Boudhiaf, the Arab world's only international champion in the sport and a one-time world record holder at 150 metres, is eyeing new achievements and hopes to expand the sport in his home country, where "thousands practise it without even realising".
During a recent visit to Tunisia, the 46-year-old, who spends half the year in Colombia and the other half training in the Bahamas, shared his remarkable journey with AFP.
Though he grew up in Tunisia, where he spent most of his summers by the sea, Boudhiaf didn't discover freediving until later.
His father, a Tunisian university professor, and French doctor mother were both "sea lovers" and taught him to swim at the age of three, later introducing him to spearfishing.
By his mid-20s, freediving came to him a continent away and nowhere near the sea -- "by chance in a pool in Bogota", the Colombian capital that sits over a thousand kilometres (620 miles) from the Pacific Ocean.
Boudhiaf initially took up underwater rugby, which, he said, proved "not aggressive enough".
His coach had then noticed his ability to control his breath, which years later would help him achieve a personalrecord of seven minutes 38 seconds.
Boudhiaf said living in Bogota at 2,600 metres above sea level has also helped develop "excellent cardiovascular conditions" by stimulating red blood cell production due to the low oxygen levels.
He then began training up to six hours a day, he said, while balancing a job as a computer engineer.
"I stopped going out," he recalls. "All I did was train."
- World record -
Boudhiaf entered his first competition in Marseille in 2007, but it wasn't until 2012 that he was able to fully dedicate himself to freediving, following a "last job in the Canary Islands, where I went to be closer to the sea".
Today, thanks to sponsorship from Tunisian companies, he can finally make a living from his passion and also organises workshops and conferences based around the sport.
In Egypt in 2021, he gained international renown when he set a world record at 150 metres in the variable weight category, which requires using a pulling rope on the way down and fins to go back up.
He said he was inspired by Luc Besson's 1988 film "The Big Blue" that put freediving on the map, and the achievements of legendary diver Umberto Pelizzari.
"It was a dream that I had since I watched 'The Big Blue' and saw Umberto Pelizzari's records," he said. "One hundred fifty metres is a symbolic frontier, a testament to human potential."
Boudhiaf was also crowned world champion in 2022, diving to 116 metres in free immersion apnea timed at three minutes 54 seconds.
After collecting several medals at the Deep Blue competition in Dominica this past April -- one gold, two silver, and one bronze -- he has been training for the 2025 Vertical Blue, an elite freediving competition held in the Bahamas, which he calls "the Wimbledon of freediving".
He is hoping to beat the constant weight record of 136 metres, currently held by Russia's Alexey Molchanov, who broke Boudhiaf's variable weight record with a depth of 156 metres in March 2023.
- 'Everyone can do it' -
Beyond competing and pursuing records, which "have ups and downs and challenges to maintaining peak performance", another focus of Boudhiaf's is growing the sport in Tunisia.
"Many Tunisians are already practising it without knowing it, through amateur spearfishing, which is a form of freediving," he said, referring to Tunisia's long-standing traditions of sponge diving and coral collecting.
Additionally, interest in pool-based freediving is growing, he added, especially at the Rades Olympic Complex near Tunis.
"I'm motivated to provide more support," Boudhiaf said, adding that the sport required little resources and equipment and that it "isn't a sport for the wealthy".
While Egypt, Greece or Turkey are better for competition-oriented training with "very deep spots close to the shore" in the Mediterranean, according to Boudhiaf, Tunisia is still suitable for "recreational freediving".
"You don't need to dive 100 metres," he said. "At 20, 30, or 50 metres, beginners can improve and even reach an advanced level."
Freediving is also "the most natural way to observe and interact with marine life," he added.
Breathing techniques also promote good health, he said, because the exercises can help manage stress.
P.Serra--PC